Locking devices for sliding sections



Dec. 20, 1955 R, LEHMAN ETAL LOCKING DEVICES FOR SLIDING SECTIONS Filed April 16, 1952 INVENTOR. RoY G. LEHMAN E. Dssmouo LEE, JR. 5/

United States Patent LOCKING DEVICES FOR SLIDING SECTIONS Roy G. Lehman, St. Louis, and Edgar Desmond Lee, Jr., Clayton, Mo., assignors to Lee-Rowan Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation Application April 16, 1952, Serial No. 282,624

1 Claim. (Cl. 28758) This invention relates to locking devices, and particularly to a device of this type where slidable adjustment of the article on which it is used is desirable, for instance, sweater stretchers, trouser creasers, and the like, and it is especially advantageous for the reason that the stretcher, or creaser, can be easily and quickly locked in position after it has been inserted in the garment and adjusted to the proper size. Another advantage is that, while it affords a very secure lock which cannot he accidentally loosened, it can be very easily and quickly unlocked and retracted and thus withdrawn from the garment by merely exerting a slight pull. Further, it is so constructed that it cannot get out of order, and is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

While it is to be understood that this invention can be used on a great variety of articles which are adjustable as to size, for convenience we will describe our invention as being incorporated in a trouser creaser.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the invention in locked position.

Fig. 2 is a top view showing the invention in unlocked position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, A and B designate strips of equal width and preferably of some light weight material, forming either the top or bottom member of the creaser, the strip A being slidably positioned above the strip B. Near its free end the strip B is perforated as at 10. A retaining member 11, preferably of the same material as the parts heretofore mentioned, is rigidly secured to strip B and bent around the strips A and B to hold them together for sliding engagement, the member 11 also being slidable on the strip A. In the drawing the retaining member 11, provided with an inturned end portion 11', is shown as being secured to the strip B by a small protuberance 12 on said retaining member which is forced into the perforation near the free end of strip B, but it is to be understood that these parts may be rigidly secured together in any suitable manner.

A strip 13 is slidably mounted below the strip B, said strip being of very slightly greater width than the strips A and B throughout its length, and preferably being formed of the same material as the latter strips. The

strip 13 is bowed both longitudinally and transversely to provide a recessed part to receive an end of a coil spring 14 (Figs. 1 and 3). The strip 13 is preferably hardened to prevent wear and increase strength. At its ends the strip 13 is greatly widened to provide lateral extensions 15 and 16. Said extensions are bent around the strips A and B. It will be readily understood that the extensions 15 and 16 thus hold the strips A and B in slidable contact. The extension 16 has a protuberance 17 thereon entering a perforation 18 in the strip A near its outer end.

A cylindrical member 19 is loosely mounted transversely in the strip 13 within the space formed by the side 2,727,767 P atented Dec. 20, 1955 walls 20 depending from the top bowed portion of said strip 13. These side walls are slightly inclined from one end to the other as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 to provide an inclined track for the cylindrical member 19. The diameter of said cylindrical member 19 is slightly less than the distance between the forward sections of the side walls 20. Said cylindrical member 19 is provided with a retaining knob 21 at each of its ends to retain it in its position in the strip 13. A coil spring 22 is mounted in one end of the recess formed by bowing the strip 13, one end of said spring resting against the inner recessed end of said strip 13, the other end pressing against the cylindrical member 19 which exerts pressure upon said member 19 to always force it into locking position (Figs. 1 and 3).

When the creaser is used in a trouser leg it is positioned therein in retracted condition so that one of its ends having the above described locking assembly is near the top of the trouser leg and the opposite end, also provided with a similar locking assembly, is near the bottom of the leg. When it has been inserted, in order to extend the device to the desired width at the top or bottom, it is only necessary to grasp the strips A and B on either side of the locking assembly, one strip in each hand, and exert a slight pull on said strips in opposite directions. Since the strips A and B are slidably held together by the retaining member 11 and the extensions 15 and 16 on the strip 13, there is nothing to check their expanding sliding movement until they have been drawn apart to such extent that the long side members (not shown) firmly press against the inside of the trouser leg.

The locking operation is as follows: While the drawing apart movement is in progress, the cylindrical member 19 is in its advanced position. in the strip 13 due to the pressure of the spring 22, but the drawing apart movement is not prevented by the member 19 because while such drawing apart movement is taking place frictional contact of the edges of the walls 20 upon the member 19 tends to force it into the larger diameter space between the edges of the Walls 20 and the surface of the strip B. The pressure of the spring 22 is only suflicient to constantly maintain the member 19 firmly forwardly to cause it instantly to grip and lock the strips A and B together when said strips tend to reverse their direction of movement. At the desired point of expansion the drawing apart movement ceases and the member 19 instantly wedges between the narrower space between the edges of the walls 20 and the surface of the strip B thus prevents any retrograde movement whatever. It is obvious that whatever pressure is exerted to cause such retrograde movement is increasingly resisted by the wedging action of the member 19, as above described (see Fig. 1). This procedure is the same at both ends of the creaser.

When it is desired to retract the creaser and withdraw it from a trouser leg the operator grasps the strips A and B, one in each hand, and with the thumb and forefinger of one hand grasping the knobs 21 pulls said knobs toward the larger diameter of the space between the inclined walls 20 and the surface of the strip B which overcomes the pressure of the spring 22 and permits sliding movement between the strips A and B and thus retract said creaser. When retracted the creaser may readily be withdrawn from the trouser leg. It will be understood that the same retractive procedure takes place at each end of the creaser.

We claim:

A locking device for a trousers creaser and the like having first and second slidable sections, said locking device being characterized by its ability to permit the sections to be slidably extended with respect to one another and by its ability to lock said sections against sliding movement in a direction which would telescope said sections irrespective of the position of said locking device, said locking device comprising a separate integral housing having a main body portion between and extending above opposed guide extensions for said first and second sections, said housing being secured to the first of said sections through one of said extensions on the side opposed to the second section with both of said extensions passing around a portion of said second section to hold it in sliding engagement with the first section, said main body portion constituting a lock chamber defined by Walls of the housing adjacent the second section on the side opposed to the first section, said lock chamber including spaced side walls having openings therein, each of said openings bein wedge-shaped with respect to said second section, and a locking member extending through said chamber and Wedge-shaped openings, said locking member being adapted to be wedged in said openings to lock said first and second sections against slidable movement, and a spring in said chamber urging said locking member into the locked position toward the apex in said wedgeshaped openings, said spring being adapted to be over- 4 ridden by friction forces urging the locking member out of the wedged locking position when the second section is moved against the force of the spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 643,346 Capewell Feb. 13, 1900 1,491,229 Goldsmith Apr. 22, 1924 1,630,870 Strunck May 31, 1927 1,674,105 Gascard June 19, 1928 2,340,118 Fouke Jan. 25, 1944 2,557,892 Rowan June 19, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,117 Great Britain of 1866 484,017 Germany of 1928 487,940 Germany of 1929 593,189 Germany of 1934 947,002 France of 1949 

